Statins don’t live up to hype

New clinical guidelines that vastly expand the definition of who should take statins benefit the pharmaceutical industry more than the patients the cholesterol-reducing drugs are supposed to treat, say John Abramson and Rita Redberg in The New York Times.

Jay Jochnowitz

2 Responses

Anyone who doesn’t realize that doctors are being paid by pharmaceutical companies to prescribe the drugs that they make, and that this, rather than your medical condition, is what influences what is prescribed for you, is very naive.

The reference article closes out with “Patients should be skeptical about the guidelines, and have a meaningful dialogue with their doctors about statins, including what the evidence does and does not show, before deciding what is best for them.” A much bigger problem than doctors and drug companies colluding to get patients to take drugs they don’t need is health insurance companies denying patients health care, including drugs, that the patient does need. If you don’t have a doctor you can trust(including fighting insurance companies to get you what you need) you should really look around for another doctor. Hopefully the drug company and insurance company crooks will cancel each other out so you can get what you need.